Take Off — 8 Steps to Gear Up Your Writing

To take off, what do airplanes and writers

have in common?

If airplanes and writers want to go places first they have to take off. Both are meant to fly. Taking off requires power, plans, partnership, and a push. A payout comes before the take off and then they need to pace themselves to stay flying. Take off is the beginning, the payoff comes when they get to their destinations.

#1—PRIORITY Do what they were born to do—fly!

#2—POWER Gotta have to take off

#3—PLAN Can’t go anywhere without one

#4—PARTNERSHIP Can’t go it alone

#5—PUSH Gotta have it to get off the ground

#6—PACE Need steady flow to keep going

#7—PAY Capital put down up front

#8—PAYOFF Getting to the final destination

Make your writing #1 Priority

If a plane’s priority isn’t to fly, it will sit in some hanger rusting. It is built to fly. Did God call you to write? Are you still dreaming about it looking at the sky and wondering? God created you to write. He gave you the talent. What have you done with the will? When are you going to make it your #1 priority after being God’s child?

The Power to take off

An airplane needs a power source to get it to take off. If you have given your life back to the Lord, He has given you His Spirit and His power to accomplish what He’s called you to do. How do you plug in to your Power Source? Prayer.

Takes a Plan to take off

Map of London

A pilot never takes off in his/her plane without a flight plan. Neither should the writer. “Dah!” you say. “Of course, I have a plan.” Does your plan take into account the variables that can affect it on the flight to your destination? A flight plan does.

Take off with Partners

An airplane doesn’t take off all on its own. There’s a team (partners) behind it—the builders, pilot,mechanics to keep it running right, ground controllers. A writer needs partners too. Whether it’s a writing buddy, a critique group, a life coach, or a collaborator, readers, agent, editor, the writer has to have encouragement and evaluation.

The Push to take off

It takes engines to give a plane the push it needs to get off the ground. A writer’s engine is his/her brain, where the ideas and motivation come from to give the push to get the book off the ground.

Staying aloft takes setting the Pace

The way an airplane keeps up its pace and up in the air flying is the airflow over its wings faster than under them to keep it flying. A writer needs pace too—a steady flow of ideas, imagination, encouragement to stay aloft.

You gotta Pay up front

It takes pay—out put up front in time, effort, and funds to get a plane to take off. A writer has to pay out too—time, effort, and funds to get a book off the ground.

Payoff comes with the landing

A plane’s payoff is when the flight gets to where it’s going. The payoff for the writer is finishing the book and getting it published.